Italy’s competition authority has fined Ryanair €255 million after ruling that the airline abused its dominant position in the Italian aviation market by deliberately obstructing travel agencies’ access to its flights.
The Italian Competition Authority said its investigation found that Ryanair implemented a systematic strategy to limit the ability of both online and traditional travel agencies to sell tickets for flights to and from Italy, where the airline accounts for up to 40 percent of passenger traffic.
“Following a complex investigation, the Authority found that Ryanair put in place an elaborate strategy affecting the ability of travel agencies to purchase Ryanair flights on its website,” the regulator said in a statement. The practices, it added, made such purchases “economically or technically burdensome,” particularly when combined with flights operated by other carriers or additional tourism services.
Barriers to agency bookings
According to the ruling, Ryanair began introducing targeted technical obstacles in April 2023. These included facial-recognition checks and additional verification requirements that applied primarily to bookings made through travel agencies, while customers booking directly through Ryanair faced fewer hurdles.
The authority said these measures increased costs, caused delays and reduced reliability for agency bookings, discouraging consumers from using intermediaries and weakening competition in the travel services market.
Investigators also found that Ryanair intermittently blocked agencies from accessing its booking system altogether. This included disabling payment methods and deleting accounts linked to online travel agencies, effectively preventing them from operating normally.
Because Ryanair flights are considered an essential input for agencies selling travel packages involving Italy, the regulator concluded that the airline went beyond normal competition and actively excluded rivals from the market.
Pressure to accept restrictive agreements
The watchdog said Ryanair used its market leverage to push agencies into signing restrictive partnership agreements. These contracts limited agencies’ ability to bundle Ryanair flights with services such as accommodation, insurance or flights operated by competing airlines, a key aspect of how travel agencies differentiate themselves.
To enforce compliance, Ryanair repeatedly reinstated booking restrictions and launched what the authority described as “aggressive communication campaigns” against non-signatory platforms, branding them “pirate online travel agencies.” Regulators said this further distorted competition and reduced consumer choice.
Competition concerns
Under EU and Italian competition law, holding a dominant market position is not illegal, but abusing that position is. The authority concluded that Ryanair leveraged its strength in air transport to undermine competition in related travel and tourism services markets.
By restricting how and whether intermediaries could sell its flights, the airline reduced the range of offers available to consumers and weakened price comparison, the regulator said, justifying the €255 million fine.
The ruling underscores growing regulatory scrutiny of dominant players in digital and transport markets, where access to a single provider’s services can become critical for competitors and consumers alike.
